Kerry Do Enough With Crucial Goals

All Ireland SFC Semi-Final
Kerry 2-8 Meath 1-7

By Denis O'Brien

For the sixth successive summer Kerry have made it through to yet another All Ireland Football Final, proving just too strong for Meath in a rather poor second semi-final at Croke Park last Sunday.

The four-point margin of victory just about flattered Meath's limited effort yet despite the win, Kerry needed two goals at the start of each half to blunt the Royal's persistent challenge.

The first a penalty in the opening minutes, unsettled Meath who in the wet conditions had more than their fair share of problems controlling the ball on the slippy surface.

Aided by the accuracy of freetaker Cian Ward, they managed to claw their way back into the game and had momentum on their side as they trailed by two at half time.

But the introduction of Tommy Walsh (1-2) would prove crucial as yet again the first score of the new half was a goal by the young Kerry giant.

This galvanized Kerry who then took control of the game and though not shining by any means upfront, they didn't allow Meath any leverage in attack and really never looked like relinquishing their lead.

Despite Meath's goal coming in injury time, they nonetheless deserved the major as they had fought hard and had asked questions of Kerry throughout this game.

Meath's tactic of playing long ball into their lively corner forwards proved unsuccessful as the wet surface repeatedly beat them to the end line especially in the early part of the game.

But as well as this any high ball that came into the full forward line was repeatedly mopped up by excellent Kerry full back Tommy Griffen and corner back Tom O'Sullivan.

Meath when they fell behind had no plan B and for the most part struggled to make any real headway in attack.

Couple this with a poor sideline led by manager Eamonn O'Brien, who despite a serious gaff by full back Anthony Moyles to giveaway the killer early penalty, he chose to leave him there and thereby allow Kerry with the introduction of Tommy Walsh to make hay as he easily collected 1-2 off the hapless defender.

These series of scores essentially provided the platform for Kerry to go on and win the game.

Weakness in the Meath full back line had been well sign posted in the quarterfinal as Mayo full forward line had the better of the things for the majority of that game.

After absorbing early Meath pressure, Kerry as they had done against Dublin struck for a devastating first score, a goal this time from a penalty.

Moyles dropped a head high ball inside the large parallelogram only for Colm 'The Gooch' Cooper to deftly slip in and rob soccer-style.

Consternation in the Meath defense followed and with the ball at Cooper's feet in stepped corner back Eoghan Harrington but mis-kicked. The Kerry ace recovered the ball still at his feet, Moyles then hits a fresh air shot, slipped and fell in the effort and then tugged on the 'Gooch''s shirt as the forward broke with the ball. Referee Gearóid Ó Conámha had no choice but to award a penalty.

Even though Darren O'Sullivan slipped in the misty conditions as he took the penalty he easily slotted the ball past Paddy O'Rourke who should have done better.

It was the perfect start for the Kingdom and Cooper added a 10th minute point to increase the lead to four.

Meath suffered a blow in the lead up to the penalty as returning captain Stephen Bray was injured downfield in a tackle and had to be substituted.

Brian Meade at midfield won good Meath possession but it was squandered as delivery into the corners continued to drift aimlessly wide of chasing corner forwards.

The Royal's first score of the game arrived on the 14th minute when after good work by Joe Sheridan, lively full forward Brian Farrell managed to slip Griffen for once to record his only point from play for the hour.

Darren O'Sullivan replied for Kerry and soon after Meath had a narrow escape when Paddy O'Keefe saved well from Declan O'Sullivan from close range.

Cian Ward and Cooper swapped frees and then two minutes before the break the former sent over another free and a brilliant sideline ball to leave just two between them.

This boosted the Royal's confidence and they were starting to get into a nice rhythm as the short whistle sounded.

After a promising start to the second half that saw Meath advance in numbers wing back Caoimhin King didn't do the attack justice when shooting a horrible wide.

From the kick-out Kerry through Tadgh Kennelly, who influenced throughout, sent in high ball to the edge of the square where Tommy Walsh easily fielded over the head of Anthony Moyles, and, by the time the defender looked around to wonder where the ball had gone, the ball was hurtling to the back of the net for a fine goal.

In the next attack, Colm Cooper sent a free towards Walsh, who leaving his marker in his wake, the big 6' 5" player put over a quality score.

This was followed by a good point from Kennelly before an equally fine score from the attacking Sheridan kept the deficit at six.

But further points from Cooper (free) and Walsh cemented Kerry's hold on the game and with their defense not giving an inch, Meath struggled to make any impression upfront.

Meath had another lucky escape after Paddy O'Rourke did well to save off the line when dealing with a muffed catch by his center back Cormac McGuinness.

On the 48th minute, Cian Ward put over another fine sideline kick but a measure of Kerry's dominance from there to the final whistle was evidenced in Meath not being allowed to score again until the 70th minute when Farrell pointed a free.

With a comfortable seven-point lead Kerry could afford to make changes during that time and though Ward, supplied by Sheridan, grabbed an excellent injury time goal, the game had been over as a contest long before that.

Kerry's midfield was spotty throughout, yet their full back line was solid and Tadgh Kennelly at center forward looks to be hitting form. Paul Galvin, though he didn't score, had a good game while Declan O'Sullivan like Darren O'Sullivan and Cooper were always a threat.

Whether it was the wet conditions or not, Kerry still on the day only managed to score 2-8 and will need to up that performance when taking on their great rivals Cork in the final.

Teams & Scorers:
Kerry: D Murphy; M Ó Sé, T Griffin, T O'Sullivan; T Ó Sé, M McCarthy, K Young; D Ó Sé, S Scanlon; P Galvin, T Kennelly (0-2), D Walsh; C Cooper (0-3, 0-2f), Declan O'Sullivan, Darren O'Sullivan (1-1, 1-0 pen). Subs: T Walsh (1-2) for D Walsh (27 Mins), A O'Mahony for Young (49), M Quirke for D Ó Sé and P O'Connor for Cooper (59), B Sheehan for Declan O'Sullivan (66).
Meath: P O'Rourke; C O'Connor, A Moyles, E Harrington; S Kenny, C McGuinness, C King; N Crawford, B Meade; P Byrne, J Sheridan (0-1), S Bray; D Bray, B Farrell (0-2, 1f), C Ward (1-4, 0-2f, 0-2 sdl). Subs: M Burke for S Bray (7 mins), J Queeney for Kenny (44), N McKeigue for D Bray (49), M Ward for Crawford (53), K Reilly for King (57).
Referee: G Ó Conámha (Galway)